Armed Forces: Tees Valley

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will have discussions with the armed forces champions for the boroughs of (a) Redcar and Cleveland and (b) Middlesbrough about the effect of armed forces cuts on communities on Teesside.

Mark Francois: holding answer 4 February 2013
	I have no current plans to do so.
	I am aware that the Community Covenant Grant Scheme recently approved an application from Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council in late December 2012 to support a 12 week programme to be run from 102 Brigade's REME TA centre to introduce young people to engineering. Participants, young people aged between 16 to 19, not in education employment or training from the local area will be supported by Army engineers to build a fully-working Go Kart from scratch. They will work towards a series of accredited qualifications in basic engineering principles, basic mechanical principles, and assembly of components while also seeking to improve general life and social skills. This is a fine example of how the Community Covenant Grant Scheme, under the auspices of the Community Covenant, is helping to bring the Armed Forces Community together with those in the local community.

Conditions of Employment

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people in his Department are employed on zero hours contracts.

Mark Francois: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 30 January 2013, Official Report, column 802W to the hon. Member for Sunderland Central (Julie Elliott).

Consultants

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which consultancies have been given contracts with his Department since May 2010; and what the (a) cost, (b) purpose and (c) scope of work conducted under each such contract was.

Mark Francois: holding answer 10 December 2012
	A list of consultancies that have been awarded Ministry of Defence (MOD) contracts since May 2010 is provided as follows. The table includes contract value and a broad description of the requirement. Contracts awarded by MOD agencies and trading funds are included, but the list excludes contracts awarded under the Framework Agreement for Technical Support and those classified by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation as Principal Service Providers; these contracts are defined separately from consultancy services.
	Total MOD expenditure on consultancy for the last five financial years is listed as follows. These figures include spend by MOD trading funds. The table shows that between 2007-08 and 2011-12 expenditure on consultancy fell by 84%.
	
		
			 Total MOD expenditure on consultancy 
			  £ million 
			 2007-08 120 
			 2008-09 106 
		
	
	
		
			 2009-10 79 
			 2010-11 26 
			 2011-12 19 
		
	
	MOD consultancy contracts awarded since May 2010
	The contract value represents the limit of liability against which expenditure may be incurred and actual expenditure against individual contracts may be lower.
	
		
			 Start date Consultancy name Description of requirement Contract value (£) 
			 1 May 2010 Harness IT Consulting Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Project—Implementation and Development—Project Team Costs 216,843 
			 20 May 2010 Criterion Leadership Forum design 16,800 
			 21 May 2010 Cap Gemini plc Barcoding Project—Transition and Project Management Consultancy 43,236 
			 21 May 2010 Cap Gemini plc Barcoding Project—third party services and software 41,150 
			 21 May 2010 Pinsent Mason Legal services for Project Delphi 60,000 
			 27 May 2010 KPMG Operational Efficiency Programme/Asset Management Review 101,592 
			 7 June 2010 Criterion Amendments to questionnaire 18,500 
			 7 June 2010 Criterion Update the Managing Performance V3 course 5,600 
			 29 June 2010 Dr Mukulika Banerjee Provision of subject matter expert advice to the Chief of the Defence Staff Strategic Advisory Forum 2,000 
			 12 July 2010 Libra Advisory Group External Assistance (EA) for Afghan Counter Insurgency Centre 18,250 
			 23 July 2010 Criterion Creation of Abstract Reasoning Test 17,000 
			 01/08/2010 Cap Gemini plc ERP Project—Implementation and Development—Technical Services 15,000 
			 1 August 2010 Worldwide Technology UK Ltd ERP Project— Implementation and Development—Project Team Costs—Cutover Management 120,006 
			 1 August 2010 Ipsos Mori Fleet Auxiliary Flotilla Survey 17,990 
			 10 August 2010 Inventures EA on Defence Training Rationalisation Fall Back Plan 15,000 
			 10 August 2010 Concerto Consulting Ltd EA on Defence Training Rationalisation Fall Back Plan 11,000 
			 16 August 2010 Pinsent Mason Career Levelling—Legally Privileged 1,675 
			 16 August 2010 Zenst Provide coaching to support nominated senior managers 999 
			 24 August 2010 QinetiQ Support to Develop IA Training Courses 17,663 
			 8 September 2010 Criterion One Day Consultant design 2,800 
			 27 September 2010 KPMG Cost Assurance and Analysis Development Programme 12,000,000 
			 5 October 2010 SCS Ltd Field Army Stock Efficiency 31,500 
			 6 October 2010 InterCultures Ltd The provision of cultural advice and guidance to Commander Task Force Helmand and his staff covering political, economic, social and development environments, as well as civil-military issues 49,770 
			 11 October 2010 CPCR To tweak and update current Line Managers course 3,220 
			 12 October 2010 Atkins Ltd EA for Defence Acquisition Reform Programme (DARP) Partnering for skills Project Management Scoping Study 218,144 
			 20 October 2010 TMP Review of AIB 25,450 
			 31 October 2010 Cranfield University NATO Capability Culture Scoping Study 49,000 
			 1 November 2010 Deloitte External Assistance to the Re-Negotiation Process 120,000 
			 5 November 2010 SCS Ltd SO2 mission specific training resource management 100,000 
			 23 November 2010 C.O.I BFBS Media Broadcast Tech Support 40,000 
			 20 December 2010 CPCR Development of a one day Bringing the Business Plan To Life event 1,610 
			 7 January 2011 Quatrosystem Ltd Carry out a soft issues assessment of the six bidders competing for new ISP contracts 103,177 
			 10 January 2011 KPMG EA for Puma Mk2 Simulator and Synthetic Training Upgrade 64,578 
			 14 January 2011 Transcend To undertake work for the new operating model for DIO 48,500 
			 4 February 2011 Criterion Design of first Learning Community session. 2,800 
			 4 February 2011 Criterion Design of one day event for Line Managers of Technical Consultants 7,000 
			 15 February 2011 Criterion Graduate Development line manager training design. 1,400 
		
	
	
		
			 16 February 2011 Mayo Learning Training design 3,500 
			 28 February 2011 In Partnership Coaching and Organisation change projects 4,344 
			 2 March 2011 Catalyze Ltd Request for Technical Support to Assist in Down Selection of Site Options 15,000 
			 10 March 2011 Bray Leino Graduate Development Programme—Team build design 638.00 
			 15 March 2011 Criterion Design of a two day training event for technical consultants 9,000 
			 15 March 2011 Criterion Research and development of simulation 9,000 
			 21 March 2011 Freight Transport Association External Support for Driver Certificate of Professional Competences 7,051 
			 25 March 2011 KPMG Admiralty Holdings Limited strategic review 110,762 
			 1 April 2011 Deloitte External Assistance for Defence Infrastructure Transformation Programme 441,000 
			 19 April 2011 In Partnership Coaching and Organisation change projects 12,150 
			 20 April 2011 Criterion Additional development costs for the extension of the Building Technical Consulting Excellence event 4,200 
			 29 April 2011 Serco Ltd Continued Provision of Technical Support to Defence Crisis Management Centre 177,760 
			 9 May 2011 Deloitte Assist in the design and delivery of Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) Transformation Programme 5,000.000 
			 26 July 2011 Ernst and Young Future Defence Storage and Distribution Project (FDSDP) EA Support 222,000 
			 14 November 2011 QiResults Provision of a Phase 2 Efficiency in Support Leader to Support the Materiel Strategy—Business Case/Investment Appraisal 72,000 
			 29November 2011 Deloitte MCS Ltd Sale of Marsh wood 99,900 
			 29 November 2011 Ernst and Young EA for the Commercial Development of RAF Northolt 94,000 
			 1 January 2012 PricewaterhouseCoopers SDSR Renegotiation of PFI Projects 169,465 
			 4 January 2012 Deloitte MCS Ltd EA to the Army 2020 study 106,000 
			 16 January 2012 Ernst and Young External Assistance Support To The FDSDP Tender Exercise 470,000 
			 17 February 2012 Deloitte LLP The provision of a Benchmarking exercise for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary against the Royal Navy and commercial operators 850,000 
			 1 April 2012 Ernst and Young Study into retaining part of Defence Support Group (DSG) within the MOD on sale of DSG 39,000 
			 12 June 2012 Detica Ltd Delivery of Cross Government ICT Strategy Outputs 149,430 
			 13 June 2012 Deloitte LLP The provision of consultancy support services to deliver improved leadership behaviours 1,529,912 
			 1 July 2012 Prof J F Alder Provision of specialist support and advice on chemical and explosives activities 5,000 
			 6 July 2012 Catalyze Ltd External Assistance to the Change Programme Team at RAF Lyneham 10,000 
			 9 July 2012 Deloitte MCS Ltd EA to support Army 2020 Study 70,000 
			 13 July 2012 LEK Business Strategy Partner for Materiel Strategy 1,950,625 
			 18 July 2012 Change Partners Provision of services to support Corporate Intervention 2 20,000 
			 31 July 2012 Atos Ltd External Assistance for Logistic Commodities Category Management Assessment 16,500 
			 10 August 2012 Maxxim Consulting LLP Corporate Strategy Review and Development 51,325 
			 14 August 2012 Deloitte MCS Ltd Consultancy for the provision of technical advice and support to progress management and liabilities and rationalisation in the warship build sector 599,836 
			 10 October 2012 Bell Pottinger Public Affairs Ltd The provision of consultancy support services to the MOD DIO transformation Project to support the Change Leadership and Communication requirements of the transformation programme 995,000 
			 10 October 2012 PWC The provision of consultancy support services to the MOD DIO transformation Project to support the Portfolio Integration and Management requirements of the transformation programme 942,560 
			 10 October 2012 Deloitte The provision of consultancy support services to the MOD DIO transformation Project to support the Enhanced Operating Model and Technology Solution Implementation requirements of the transformation programme and the Strategic Business Partner Procurement 5,922,928 
		
	
	
		
			 15 October 2012 Deloitte The provision of consultancy support services to the MOD DIO transformation Project to support the Footprint Strategy of the transformation programme 253,341 
			 18 October 2012 Deloitte EA for the Defence Fire and Rescue Project 426,474 
			 19 November 2012 KPMG The provision of consultancy support services to the MOD Material Strategy Project to support the construction of business cases, investment appraisals and benefits realisations for the transformation programme 1,145,250

Defence Equipment and Support

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will announce his plans for the future of Defence Equipment and Support.

Andrew Murrison: I refer the hon. Member to the answer the Under-Secretary of State for Defence, my hon. Friend the Member for Ludlow (Mr Dunne), gave on 7 January 2013, Official Report, column 37W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Worcestershire (Peter Luff).

Mali

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total cost is of UK involvement in Mali to date; from which budget this is drawn; and whether any funding has yet been recouped from the government of France.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 5 February 2013
	As this is an emerging operation the costs are currently being compiled, and will be available in due course. The source of funding is being discussed with the Treasury. The UK has not charged the Government of France for our contribution to operations in Mali.

Military Aircraft

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence where all UK Sentinel aircraft are currently deployed.

Andrew Robathan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 4 February 2013, Official Report, column 80W, to the hon. Member for Dumfries and Galloway (Mr Brown).

Military Bases: Kirknewton

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the ministerial correction of 18 September 2012, Official Report, column 7MC, on military bases: Kirknewton, if he will place in the Library a copy of the notes taken of the meeting on 11 January 2011.

Andrew Robathan: I wrote to the right hon. Member enclosing a copy of this information today.
	The notes were not cleared with private office and should not be taken as an official record of the meeting. They were first released as a result of an FOI request in September 2012.

RAF Lossiemouth

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what the purpose is of the current and proposed refurbishment of (a) 1 hangar annexes, (b) 3 hangar and (c) C41 Squadron at RAF Lossiemouth; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what recent discussions have taken place between (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department and BAe Systems on the provision of Typhoon availability services at RAF Lossiemouth;
	(3)  what recent discussions have taken place between (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department and Rolls-Royce on the provision of Rolls-Royce personnel at RAF Lossiemouth in support of the Typhoon fleet;
	(4)  whether a Typhoon transition team have been created at (a) RAF Leuchars and (b) RAF Lossiemouth; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: Number 1 Hangar annexes, Number 3 Hangar and the C4I Squadron are being refurbished as part of the enabling work at RAF Lossiemouth to facilitate the phased relocation of the RAF Leuchars element of the Typhoon Force to RAF Lossiemouth.
	To oversee the planning for the Typhoon transition from RAF Leuchars to RAF Lossiemouth, a dedicated Fast Jet Basing Programme Management Team was established at RAF Lossiemouth in September 2011. This transition team and other officials are in regular ongoing discussions with the contractors that provide Typhoon availability services and support, including both BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce, to ensure their support requirements are fully integrated during the transition. There is no record of this subject being discussed recently with Ministers, although they have regular meetings with the two companies, who are both major defence suppliers.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to respond to question 129772, tabled by the right hon. Member for North East Fife on 20 November 2012.

Andrew Robathan: I answered the right hon. Member today.

Energy Companies Obligation

Robin Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the use of Government data to help energy providers reduce the cost of finding potential recipients for the energy company obligation scheme.

Gregory Barker: A mechanism which makes use of Government data, providing customer referrals to energy companies participating in the energy company obligation (ECO), has been operational since 2 January 2013, Under this mechanism, customers who call the Energy Saving Advice Service (ESAS) and appear eligible for ECO Affordable Warmth assistance will have their benefit-based eligibility checked with the Department for Work and Pensions, subject to their consent for this data sharing. Except for those found to be ineligible, customers are then referred by ESAS to participating energy suppliers who will offer them a minimum package of assistance. In January 2013, this mechanism generated over 1,600 referrals to suppliers. Ineligible customers are contacted by ESAS with details of other energy efficiency options.
	Furthermore, the operation of the Warm Home Discount scheme provides considerable opportunities for energy supply companies to identify households for ECO assistance. This is because Regulations allow the energy supply companies to use information pertaining to customers in receipt of pension credit to offer energy efficiency support. As such participating energy companies already have access to some 1.2 million households eligible for support under ECO Affordable Warmth.

Government Procurement Card

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what guidance or instructions have been issued to staff in (a) his Department and (b) its arm's length bodies about the timing of the publication of data relating to spend over (i) £25,000 and (ii) £500 using the Government Procurement Card.

Gregory Barker: Guidance on the timing of publication of departmental spending and procurement card data under the Transparency Agenda has been issued by HM Treasury and the Ministry of Justice respectively. This has been disseminated by DECC to its finance staff and further cascaded by e-mail to the Department's arm's length bodies.
	The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), has further instructed that publication of expenditure should include all expenditure over £500 rather than over £25,000.

Inspections

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change which decisions in his Department are awaiting inspectors' reports; and in each such case involving delay to the scheduled timescale, what the (a) reasons for and (b) length of the delays are.

Gregory Barker: The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), is awaiting a report from an inspector following a necessary wayleave hearing in respect of an existing overhead line at the Heath Business and Technical Park, Runcorn. The Inspector has been occupied on other priority work for the Department, causing a delay of about seven months. This report is expected by end of February 2013.
	The Secretary of State is also awaiting reports from the Planning Inspectorate for three major infrastructure proposals being considered under the Planning Act 2008: Galloper offshore wind farm, Triton Knoll offshore windfarm and Port Blyth biomass, none of which are delayed.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many high speed train services will stop daily at Stafford train station on the non-High Speed 2 train network under initial plans for phase two of the High Speed 2 line.

Simon Burns: HS2Ltd has published an explanation of the service patterns at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/updated-economic-case-for-hs2-august-2012-explanation-of-the-service-patterns
	These are indicative service patterns and HS2Ltd will continue to work with people to get this right. In addition, Network Rail will be undertaking a study of the potential capacity benefits for the existing rail network from the advent of HS2 working with Passenger Focus. Terms of reference for this study were included in the Phase Two announcement details of which are at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-speed-rail-investing-in-britains-future-phase-two-the-route-to-leeds-manchester-and-beyond

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Christopher Pincher: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what criteria he will apply to compensation claims for people whose properties will be affected by the High Speed 2 extension to Leeds.

Simon Burns: The Government has announced a public consultation on the proposed Exceptional Hardship Scheme (EHS) for Phase Two of HS2. It will run until 29 April 2013. This is an interim scheme which would remain in place only until such time as the statutory blight provisions apply to properties affected by Phase Two or we introduce a wider package of discretionary measures broadly consistent with those for Phase One. At a later stage, following a decision on the final route, and if the Secretary of State decided to use compulsory purchase powers to acquire land, the normal statutory provisions for the assessment and payment of compensation would apply.

Roads: East Sussex

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Bexhill to Hastings link road on (a) the natural environment and wildlife, (b) carbon emissions, (c) public amenity and (d) average journey times; what his latest estimate is of the total cost of the link road; whether a full study has been undertaken into (i) non-road alternatives and (ii) the value of the natural environment that will be lost to the scheme in terms of benefits to society and economic prosperity; if he will publish any findings of any such study; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Baker: The Department's most recent assessment of this scheme was in March 2012 and was published on our website at the following link:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121025123854/http://assets.dft.gov.uk/publications/local-authority-major-transport-schemes/bexhill-hastings-assessment.pdf
	The scheme promoter, East Sussex County Council, submitted an application to the Department for full and final funding approval and this is currently being assessed. A copy of the application is available on the Council's website at:
	http://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/roadsandtransport/bexhillhastingslinkroad/fundingbids.htm

Deloitte

John Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department paid to Deloitte for consultancy services in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Sajid Javid: In line with the Government's ‘Transparency’ agenda, since January 2011 HM Treasury has published details of all new contracts it has awarded with an expected value of over £10,000 (excluding VAT) on Contracts Finder. Details of these contracts awarded since January 2011, are available here:
	https://online.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/
	Since 2010 the Department has restricted the use of consultants which, together with lower banking interventions related spending, has led to overall spending on consultants falling from £69 million in 2009-10 to £29 million in 2010-11 and £15 million in 2011-12.

Jobcentre Plus

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reason his Department no longer publishes statistics on Jobcentre Plus vacancies: and if he will publish such statistics in the future.

Mark Hoban: Headline national level figures on the number of unfilled vacancies at a point in time are published by the Office for National Statistics, based on a regular survey of employers.
	The replacement of the Jobcentre Plus system of vacancy-taking with the new Universal Jobmatch service has meant that the Jobcentre Plus statistics previously published via ONS’ labour market statistics website are no longer available.
	Universal Jobmatch is a major reform that brings significant benefits to jobseekers and employers alike. Headline statistics—which are already available via the Directgov website:
	https://jobsearch.direct.gov.uk/Reports/Reports.aspx
	show that nationally over 10,000 new vacancies a day are reported to Universal Jobmatch. Despite the limitations, the Department recognises that, in the absence of detailed statistics from the ONS vacancy survey, there remains a demand for local level administrative data on unfilled vacancies. The intention has been and remains that broadly similar information to that available under the previous system will be introduced over time as resources allow.